David
Shipley Bass

David Shipley is a British bass who was born in Ipswich and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London with Janice Chapman. He was subsequently accepted into the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he performed in Mozart's ‹Die Zauberflöte›, Monteverdi's ‹Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria› and Bizet's ‹Carmen›, to name just three roles. At the Glyndebourne Festival and Opera di Roma, he was part of the ensemble in Britten's ‹Billy Budd›. In the 2018/19 season, his roles included Sparafucile in Verdi's ‹Rigoletto› at the Scottish Opera and Truffaldin in Strauss' ‹Ariadne› at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. David enjoys a close working relationship with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, under whose direction he has appeared in Stravinsky's ‹Oedipus Rex›, Bach's Mass in B minor and Monteverdi's ‹L'Orfeo›. He has also appeared at the Salzburg Festival, the BBC Proms and the Lucerne Festival. Recent and forthcoming engagements include Rocco (‹Fidelio› Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra), Sarastro (‹Zauberflöte›, Glyndebourne), Gremin (‹Eugen Onegin›, Opernhaus Zürich), Sparafucile (‹Rigoletto›, Theater Basel, Houston Grand Opera and Scottish Opera), Bottom (‹A Midsummer Night’s Dream›, Scottish Opera), Truffaldino (‹Ariadne auf Naxos›, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence) and Pistola (Falstaff, ‹Verbier Festival›). In the role of Sparafucile (‹Rigoletto›), Shipley will make his Theater Basel debut in the 2022/23 season.